About 40 people lived in tents dotting two acres of private property owned by the Tanner Heights and Pasatiempo neighborhoods. The encampment next to the Highway 1-Highway 17 fishhook included a marijuana garden of 90 plants.

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Campers were hauling 200 gallons of water daily out of Pasatiempo Creek to irrigate the outdoor grow daily.

"The campsite was found to be polluting the Pasatiempo Creek which flows into the San Lorenzo River," Deputy Police Chief Steve Clark said. The San Lorenzo River is also polluted by homeless men and women who live along the levee downtown and use it as a bathroom.

No arrests were made Friday. Most illegal campers had already left because police posted signs on Wednesday to warn them that the sweep was coming. A few stragglers who were still there did not have anything to say to reporters.

It cost the City of Santa Cruz more than $15,000 to conduct Friday's cleanup.

"It is a constant, never ending pursuit to eradicate these homeless encampments," Clark said.

While protected by armed police officers, crews had to set up a pulley system to haul all of the trash they found away. Hypodermic drug needles used for shooting up methamphetamine and heroin were also found on the ground.

Santa Cruz County Health Department hands out drug needles for free to addicts to prevent diseases such as HIV from spreading.

Tanner Heights homeowner Sara Moon said her unwanted, illegal neighbors were responsible for igniting a wildfire in June that almost burned down her house.

"Along with the environmental destruction of this area, the campsite posed a significant fire danger to the wooded area and homes along that stretch. In June this year, fire crews battled one blaze in this area that threatened several homes," Clark said.

A homeless man and woman were charged with arson. The arson charges were dropped this month because so many homeless residents were in the area at the time of the fire that investigators could not pinpoint exactly who ignited it.